| Client
Profile:
VT Halter Marine
Located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, VT Halter Marine is a manufacturer of cargo and military ocean going ships and one of scores of companies on the Gulf Coast that is still struggling with recovery from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.
Situation:
The shipbuilding industry on the Gulf Coast has long been battling a severe shortage of qualified welding talent which was exacerbated by Hurricane Katrina and is being addressed by the recruitment and development of individuals with no prior experience in the trade.
Solution:
This large project conducted by the MEP.ms Center at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) at VT Halter Marine focused on developing critical welding capabilities to support the pursuit of new shipbuilding contracts. The scope of this project included both pre- and post-employment training and certification of welders to meet both American Welding Society (AWS) and stringent company requirements.
Results:
The support from MEP.ms Center at MGCCC in providing the technical program to develop more and higher skilled welders in the VT Halter Marine pipeline directly resulted in the company’s ability to win numerous substantial new contracts with a total dollar impact (including the component impacts reported) of $366,700,000 and a jobs impact of 275 new positions. VT Halter Marine’s management attributes this significant combined impact as a result of the MEP.ms project work and has stated that without this MEP.ms / MGCCC project work that they would struggle to survive in this highly competitive environment. According to Jerold Shepherd, Director of Technical Training, “The capabilities and support from the MEP.ms Center at MGCCC is second to none. I have been in this industry a long time and have dealt with many training and engineering organizations over the years, and you have the best system and people I have ever done business with. We couldn’t have won these important contracts without you.”
Testimonial:
“The capabilities and support from the MEP.ms Center at MGCCC is second to none. I have been in this industry a long time and have dealt with many training and engineering organizations over the years, and you have the best system and people I have ever done business with. We couldn’t have won these important contracts without you.”
Jerold Shepherd, Director of Technical Training
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